Sumo Wrestling

For most people, when they hear the phrase "sumo wrestling" all they think is a fat Asian man with a diaper looking thing on. Sumo wrestling is much more than that. I'm going to go in depth about the rules of sumo wrestling and how cool of a sport it really is.

 

Sumo takes place in a ring that is 15 feet in diameter, raised about 2 1/2 feet off the ground on a dohyo. A dohyo is a very large block of clay. A new dohyo is made for every tournament. This block of clay is about a 17x17x2.5 foot square, about 725 feet squared of clay. This is 72,500 pounds. There is a small amount of sand for footing that the wrestlers (rikishi) also throw on the ground before the bout. The edge of the ring is made of tightly wound straw bands called tawara and rises up about 3 inches out of the dohyo. Five shinpan dressed in black kimono, a customary dress sit below the dohyo and around the ring. These judges must be former rikishi. A gyoji, dressed in an elaborate kimono stands at the edge of the ring and officiates the bout. At the end of the bout, the gyoji points to the winner. In a dispute between who’s the winner, they discuss. Any of the five judges can dispute the call made by the referee. In this case, a congregation called a mono-ii is held to discuss the match. In modern times, television instant replay is used to determine the actual outcome of a match when in dispute.

There are three basic types of rikishi. One, the very heavy 200+kg who uses brute force and use his size to bully the opponent out of the ring with straight charges. These bowling ball men are often very athletic for their size. Then, there is the less popular small sumos. Small Sumo wrestlers. Sounds like an oxymoron. These giant men can be all the way down to a mere 90kgs, or 200 pounds. These wrestlers use their mobility to their advantage, making the big wrestlers go into poor position, usually causing these big boys to be thrown out of the ring. It's a real David and Goliath story every time they wrestle the buildings that are the 500 pounders. Then, there is a hybrid. The best of both worlds. Heavy enough to not be picked up and eaten, but mobile enough to cause issue to their opponent.

There are very few rules in sumo.

1.       No hair pulling

2.       No hitting with closed fist

3.       Stay away from ears- no pulling

4.       No choking, but pushing at throat is legal

5.       No grabbing the mawashi (Diaper thing) in the crotchal region

How to win: push your opponent out of the ring, knock them off their feet, or make anything but the bottom of their feet touch the tawara.

How to lose: Break the rules or be forced out by one of the ways to win.